This invention relates generally to fireplaces and more particularly to a glass enclosure for closing the front of an open fireplace box.
Fireplaces have been used for centuries as a means for providing heat, for cooking and for simply decorative purposes. Modern fireplaces typically have a front enclosure panel that may be sealed to the front of the fireplace box, or which may include operable doors enabling access into the fireplace box.
The fireplace box that defines the combustion chamber can assume a number of different configurations. In traditional wood burning fireplaces of brick or mortar construction, the combustion chamber generally extends over the full height of the. fireplace box, and a log holding grate rests on the floor of the combustion chamber. For gas burning fireplaces, the burner assembly and associated gas supply mechanisms are typically located below the floor of the combustion chamber but often still within the open cavity defined by the fireplace box. A number of fireplaces also include a heating plenum that pulls room air into the plenum near the bottom of the. fireplace box, heats the air, and emits the heated air back into the room near the top of the fireplace box. In order to provide an aesthetically pleasing design for the fireplace front enclosure, most such enclosures provide wide metal panels near the top and bottom portions of the open front fireplace box assembly, to cover or mask the unsightly looks of the mechanisms or openings located at those positions. Such molded panels may be typically coated with brass, bronze or anondized metal finishes. The vertical area between the upper and lower decorative metal panels, generally contains one or more panels of glass that can be of a nature that forms a seal with the front of the fireplace box or which includes operable door panels for gaining access to the combustion chamber.
It would be desirable from both aesthetic and cost viewpoints to eliminate the upper and lower metal decorative panels of a fireplace front enclosure and to form the entire front fireplace box enclosure from glass, except for the relatively narrow surrounding framework. The present invention addresses this need.
The present invention provides a glass surround or enclosure for the front of a fireplace box. The surround includes a glass enclosure or panel sized and configured to correspond to a front of the fireplace box, a support for securing the glass enclosure adjacent to the front of the fireplace box, and a pattern arrangement disposed on the glass enclosure for masking at least a portion of the contents of the fireplace box. In one aspect, the glass enclosure is comprised substantially entirely of glass, except for the support arrangement. The enclosure can be in the nature of a sealing panel, for sealing the open front of the fireplace box, or can include operable glass door members for enabling access into the fireplace box. The enclosure member can be configured for attachment to any type of fireplace assembly, whether of masonry or brick construction, of prefabricated modular construction, of retrofit insert construction for existing fireplaces, or the like.
The surround enclosure panel includes a support for securing the enclosure adjacent to the front of the fireplace box, for example, a heat resistant adhesive, or conventional mechanical fasteners, such as bolts or the like. In another aspect, the support includes an outer frame of relatively narrow or a thin profile configuration when viewed from the front of the panel, that operatively peripherally supports one or more panels of glass. The glass panels substantially fill or close the area peripherally defined and encircled by the frame. The frame is preferably made from a metal material; however, the construction need not necessarily be of metal. The frame includes fasteners that can be in the form of one or more hanger members for detachably securing the frame and the glass carried thereby to the front of a fireplace box.
Silk screened patterns of various shapes and configurations can be applied to the back or inner surfaces of the glass panel(s) at selected positions therealong, to visually mask portions of the fireplace box when viewed from outside of the enclosure. For example, a rectangular surround enclosure panel may include a screened rectangular portion adjacent the top of the glass panel(s) for masking unsightly structures near the top edge of the fireplace box, and might include a similar rectangular silk screened portion near the bottom of the glass panel(s) for masking the burner assembly structure in a gas burning fireplace. Alternatively, or in addition to the use of silk screening for masking out unsightly portions of the fireplace box, the screening may be applied to the glass in various patterns, shapes and/or in graphical manner soas to provide a desired aesthetic look or viewing area through the glass and into the combustion chamber when the glass is illuminated from within the fireplace box, as it might be when there is a flame burning within the combustion chamber.
Some embodiments of the invention are particularly well suited for gas burning fireplaces to mask the burner assembly and associated gas supply mechanisms or heating. Other embodiments are particularly well suited for modern wood burning fireplace box inserts that include heating plenums, and are designed to cover or mask the unsightly looks of the mechanisms or openings.
These and other features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a more detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention.